The Role Farmers Co-Operative Societies In Agricultural Development In Isiala-Ngwa North Local Government Area Of Abia State.

ABSTRACT

The broad objective of this study was to appraise the role of farmers co-operative so cities in Agricultural development in Isiala-Ngwa North LG.A of Aba State. The specific objectives include to identify the various types of co-operative societies in the area, to examine the membership structure socio-economic background and organizational structure of the societies and their effect on the overall business performance arid determine their major constraints. Data were collected from selected sample of co-operators in the Local Government Area, descriptive statistical tools such as means, percentage, frequency distribution as well as chi-square distribution technique were u--d t» analyze the data obtained. ? The results obtained indicated that majority of the co-operators are farmers whose means P~ livelihood revolve around farming, Co-operative societies has exposed ~:'•:m to-a number of innovation needed to improve their farming techniques and as a result lead to improvement in their standard of living. The hypothesis tested using chi-square at 99% level of significance showed that there was significant relationship between co-operative membership and farmer level of education and also there was significant relationship between co-operative membership and farmers level of income. The major problems hindering the activities of these farmers cooperative societies include  luck of Government support, poor capital base, inadequate extension service